I'm sure one of the most galling things to religious extremists is the ever increasing "coming out" of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) people. Many religious extremists may sincerely believe, naively and ignorantly, that LGBT people are as they are by sinful choice and that they should hide their shame in their closet. But we who are LGBT know we are who we are, not because of choice, but because we simply are. Religious extremists and even many mainstream people will simply have to deal with our existence.
Like any disparaged minority, we suffer from stereotyping, which is why so many LGBT people successfully can remain closeted. I have many dear male gay friends who are stereotypically gay men, swishy, loose wrists, lisps, cannot throw a baseball if their lives depend on it. I also have many dear female lesbian friends who are stereotypical lesbians. Blue jean, flannel shirt, non-leg shaving, no make-up, football loving auto mechanics. But I also have male gay friends who are tough as nails and can fix cars with the best of them, who can run circles around many straight athletes. I have female lesbian friends who look like the late Princess Diana, very feminine, beautifully applied make-up and attractive dresses.
Likewise, LGBT people have been characterized as dysfunctional sex crazed hedonists who hop from bed to bed (especially the men) and who have no idea what love and commitment is. Forgetting the fact there are many straight people who fit that description, tell the many committed friends and lovers of gay men who cleaned bed pans and vomit and put ointment on the HIV/AIDs infected loved one that they do not know about love and commitment. Tell the husband who took care of his Alzheimer impaired husband, changing his diapers, and watching the man he spent the last 30 years with waste away that they do not know about love and commitment.
No, those who wish we would go away, get electro-shock treatment to cure ourselves, or just stay quiet in the closet; they do not want these stories, these facts to get out. They do not want the human face of LGBT people to be seen. That we are flesh and blood like them with the same fears and hurts and needs and wants as them. Well, maybe we have some fears and hurts they will never experience.
I had the pleasure the other night to attend an educational forum in a conservative Republican family suburb of
One day, a high school student decided to wear a tee shirt to school that said "I support gay marriage". Despite the fact school administrators had allowed students to wear political slogans on their clothes in 2004, they asked this young man to remove his tee shirt. When other students, mostly straight, found out, they launched a protest and they started wearing a similar tee shirt to school. I met some of these courageous principled young people at the educational forum and I was proud of them.
Why did they do this? Did they have gay family members? No. Did they have gay neighbors? No. Did they have any or many gay friends? No. They did it because "it was the right thing to do". Wow! And guess who criticized them, besides the admininistrators? Their friends and fellow students? No! It was the "adults", some of the teachers. One protesting student suggested she may have gotten a lower grade because of her involvement in this protest.
I have said before and I told these great kids that the future is hopeful for us gay people because of the younger generation!
LGBT people are every where. In all walks of life. We are men and women. We are children, teenagers, adults of all ages. We are devoutly religious, we are atheists. We are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist. We are Republicans, Democrats. We are lawyers, doctors, police officers, fire fighters, politicians, teachers, professors, Sunday School teachers, and clergy. We are factory workers, computer programmers, librarians, athletes. And yes, believe it or not, some of us are hair dressers, florists, interior decorators, and ballet dancers (the secret is out! Oh no!). We are your neighbors (you know, the beautifully kept house on the street), your fathers, your mothers, your brothers, your sisters, your uncles, your aunts, your nephews, your nieces, and in many cases, unfortunately, your husbands and wives to opposite sex partners. We live in the big cities, in the suburbs and small towns, on the farm. We live in every state in the union, in
We are breaking new ground every day in revealing who we are. Take the heartwarming story of Andrew Goldstein, all American Lacrosse player from
No folks, we exist and we are not returning to the closet. Some can say the world is going to hell because of us, can cynically and callously use us as political footballs in a campaign (Karl Rove - hint, hint) or be outraged when their own daughter's "shameful" privacy is invaded (Mary Cheney - hint, hint), but we are NOT going away.
As the old saying of the early 1990s goes - "We're Here, We're Queer, Get Used to It!"